Richard III: An Arab Tragedy: Full video

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Production description

Dr. Margaret Litvin reviewed this production for the Shakespeare Bulletin when it was performed at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, February 8-17, 2007.

On February 24, 2009, Jim Lehrer’s Newshour, PBS (USA) aired an interview done by Jeffrey Brown with Sulayman Al-Bassam about Richard III: An Arab Tragedy. It was the second of a series of reports on the Arabesque arts festival at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. [transcript, mp3]

On June 11, 2009, Ben Brantley wrote a review for The New York Times entitled, “Gloucester’s Emir, Handsome This Time.” [summary, full article]

Clarence

Catesby

Richard III: An Arab Tragedy (Spring 2009)

"Al-Bassam's work is about as original and pulse-quickening as you could wish." —The Times (UK )

In an oil-rich kingdom, a dictator's bloody rise to power becomes an allegory of our own times in Richard III: An Arab Tragedy, Kuwaiti director Sulayman Al-Bassam's groundbreaking remake of Shakespeare's Machiavellian masterpiece. Grainy TV confessions, sophisticated propaganda, and a wealth of Arab music and ritual lend themes of leadership, religion, and foreign intervention an uncanny relevance, turning this classic play into a cautionary contemporary tale.

This work was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of the Complete Works Festival.

Part of Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas

BAM Harvey Theater
Running time: 110min, no intermission

Subscription tickets: $20, 28, 36
(Full price: $25, 35, 45)

In Arabic with English titles

More: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=866

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Richard III "An Arab VIP" movie trailer

Note: In Richard III "An Arab VIP", a documentary film crew follows a spectacular touring Arab production of Shakespeare's eponymous play as it moves from an initial rehearsal period in the oil-rich Arabian Gulf State of Kuwait to the charged atmosphere of a U.S. premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and on to the United Arab Emirates - for a command performance at the behest of local princesses in Abu Dhabi. In between, the cast and crew assemble and disassemble in various cities across the Arab world -- Damascus, Beirut, Baghdad, Abu Dhabi -- and the process of breathing life into their fictional characters begins to take shape in a way that uncannily reflects the politics and turmoil that surrounds them...